


you live, you learn, you love, you're dead

by MistyDragon



Series: Klaus and Dave [2]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Animals, Dave Is Alive, Dogs, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:46:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23172658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MistyDragon/pseuds/MistyDragon
Summary: Klaus and Dave lived through the Vietnam War. They moved to a cabin in northern Minnesota, and are surprised when a knock on the door turns out to be Klaus' siblings and not at all what they were expecting.
Relationships: Dave/Klaus Hargreeves
Series: Klaus and Dave [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1665763
Comments: 1
Kudos: 128





	you live, you learn, you love, you're dead

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from Jade Bird's I Get No Joy.

“I want a dog.”

“We already have a dog, Klaus.”

“I want another one. Pip’s great, but I want a big dog. One that’s easy to cuddle,” Klaus whined. 

“Pip’s easy to cuddle!” Dave objected.

“But she likes you better than me! I want a dog that prefers me over you!”

“Fine. Fine, fine, fine,” Dave said, giving in to Klaus’ constant whining, “We can get one tomorrow.”

“But it’s only 2 pm, Dave. We could totally get a dog today,” Klaus moaned.

“Think of a name for it while you’re waiting. But we’re going tomorrow, no matter how much whining you do. You’ll just have to be patient.”

The next morning Klaus woke up at 6 am, rolling over onto his side to stare at Dave lying next to him. After Dave had been shot in the shoulder in ’Nam, Klaus hadn’t quite known what to do. The next battle he was in, he had gotten shot in the leg. They found a way to get cots right next to each other in the infirmary, and they had stayed close for the weeks it took to recover. Klaus got kicked out first, after all, bed space was limited and there were other soldiers with fresher/more life-threatening injuries. 

He spent as much time as he could at Dave’s bedside. The nurses all thought it was nice, how loyal he was to his injured friend. Klaus couldn’t tell them that it was more than that. That they weren’t just friends, they were practically soulmates, that Dave loved him, that he loved Dave, and not only for the fact that Dave kept the ghosts away some. Klaus had tried to keep fighting while Dave was recovering, but it soon became clear to him what others around him already knew: a leg injury like his would keep him from being effective. He begged his superiors to discharge him and Dave together. 

They obliged, and when Dave had recovered enough to be let out of the infirmary, they went back to the States together. They went to Dave’s grandpa’s old cabin in northern Minnesota, so different from where either of them grew up, and not at all like Vietnam. The locals never really questioned the two war vets who seemed more comfortable by themselves in the woods than interacting with other people. And their cabin was miles away from the nearest town, which was small. Nobody cared. It was freeing. 

When somebody did ask about the two vets living in the woods, “Don’t you think that’s a little weird?” the locals would reply that “They don’t bother us, we don’t bother them. They deserve a little peace and quiet after the war. It’s good,” and nothing would come of it. 

When Klaus and Dave first came to live there, they had stayed by themselves for a week or so and then Dave came to town to buy supplies. The locals were still a bit suspicious of them, so Dave chatted with the store owner about how his grandfather had owned the cabin while he bought soup, bread, eggs, fruits, and the like. Nothing out of the ordinary. It made the locals like them a little better. 

The next time, they both came. The people got less wary of them as they noticed Klaus’ crutches and the bandage still on his leg. They explained how they had gotten discharged at the same time, and how after so many months in the same unit it would have been odd living apart. Besides, Dave knew how to calm Klaus’ panic attacks, and vice versa. 

They had gone into the little animal shelter that day, and come out with a little white and brown dog. The workers at the animal shelter had overheard a conversation between them that had made the small town trust them more. 

“But she’s so cute!” Dave said, picking up the dog and shoving her in Klaus’ face, “Just look at her!”

Klaus looked. She was very cute, with white fur, honey colored splotches, and floppy ears. “But she’s so small,” he protested weakly, “She’ll run around all over the place, and you know I won’t be able to catch her when she knocks over your grandma’s vase.”

“And if that happens you can say ‘I told you so,’ please can we get her?” Dave begged. 

“Fine,” Klaus muttered with a faint smile on his face, turning toward the front of the shelter, “We can keep her.”

“Yes!” Dave cheered as he turned too, “Now what shall I call you? Sugar? No. Honey? No, Klaus would never let that go. Poppy, if we’re going with the theme of food? I’ve got it. We’ll call you Pippa, Pip for short.”

They had had many other trips to town since then. Mostly it was Dave, usually alone, sometimes with Klaus. On rare occasions Klaus came without Dave, using the excuse that Dave’s shoulder was acting up. Dave even had a job at the little corner store, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. So it wasn’t odd to see either of them in town. It was a little odd to see them going into the shelter again. 

“He woke me up at quarter after 6 today,” Dave complained to the employee, “Just came into my room and shook me awake, because he was so excited to get another dog.”

Klaus, meanwhile, had already gone into the room, looking for a big dog. He didn’t have a lot of preferences besides that, so he stopped whenever a dog caught his eye. He was currently gingerly getting to his knees in front of a cage containing a Rottweiler huddled in the back. The dog was missing part of an ear and had a few nasty looking scars. An employee quickly went over to Klaus. 

“He’s pretty aggressive. He was living on the streets before he was brought in, and doesn’t like anybody. We’ve had him for a while and would love for him to be adopted, but he’s not great with people. Maybe better as a guard dog, but not a house pet.”

Klaus had already opened the cage door and was holding his hand out to the dog. The employee fell silent. He held his hand out for several moments before the dog came forward slowly and sniffed at his hand. The worker was standing next to Klaus with his jaw hanging open. 

“He… has never done anything like that,” the employee stammered, “He must really like you.”

“Well,” Klaus said as the dog licked his hand, “I guess we’ll just have to take him home then.” 

They left the shelter up one dog, one dog bed, and two food/water bowls.

“Welcome to the family, Benji,” Klaus murmured into the dog’s fur as Dave drove them back home, “Good luck with the madness.”


End file.
